


Late Night Practice

by Evilsforreals



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-10 12:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilsforreals/pseuds/Evilsforreals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connie discovers a mysterious person practicing on the fields late at night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This week, I've been asking tumblr for obscure Attack on Titan pairings, to write short one-shot fanfics. This request was for Connie/Armin, hope you enjoy!

Connie gazed dully at the wooden panels of the bunk bed, Jean’s snores echoing throughout the small room. He turned on his side, attempting to drown out the noise of the boy’s heavy breathing, thinking back on the past few days. It was a relief that Jean had managed to finally get to sleep. He had been nearly inconsolable ever since he had encountered Marco’s body during the post-Trost cleanup. Connie knew that it was good that he was sleeping, but couldn’t help but feel annoyed that now he was unable to sleep.

With a heavy sigh, Connie pushed himself out of bed, and quietly slipped out the door. Maybe a glass of water would help him. The night air was still warm, as Connie quietly made his way down the steps of the barracks, and headed towards the well. He decided to cut across the practice field instead of taking the long away around. He lifted his eyes to stare at the stars, glimmering in the clear night sky. It was beautiful, too beautiful after what the 104th had had to endure…

There was a slight movement to his right in the darkness. Connie squinted into the gloom, trying to make out what it was. He heard a slight grunt, and then a soft _thwack_. Connie paused a moment, before changing directions. He headed towards the sound, noting that he was getting near the practice dummies.

As he approached, he could see a tiny glimmer of a lone lantern, and someone hidden by a cloak brandishing the practice swords at the wooden Titan outlines. Connie tentatively crept closer, curious as to who would be practicing this late at night.

The cloaked figure wasn’t doing well. Connie could see from a distance that his stance was off, and his grip was weak, but the person kept doing one of the practiced attack moves, the pincer strike; leaping straight at the nape of the neck with swords outstretched, to bring them together in a pincer to sever the weak point. Again and again, the swords struck the nape, emitting wet thumps in the night air.

Connie was getting closer when he stepped on a twig, causing an audible crack to echo across the field. The individual froze, swords in the air, their head sweeping back and forth, searching for the cause of the sound. Connie raised his hands, and slowly stepped into the lantern light. “Sorry, was just passing through- _Armin?”_

The blonde-haired boys hands dropped to his side as the cloak slipped back to reveal his face, red and sweaty from exertion. Armin tried to say something, but sank to a sitting position, gasping for air.

“Whoah, whoah, Armin take it easy, it’s just me. You ok?”

Armin nodded, his breath coming in short gasps. The wooden swords fell from his hands to the grass.

“What are you doing out here this late?”

“ _Wanted…hhhh to practice…hhhh”_

Connie bent down to retrieve the sword. He noticed it was wet as he picked it up. He squinted at it, before he realized the handle was covered in blood. “Armin, you’re bleeding!”

“Its..its not bad…” Armin tried to wave him off, but Connie grabbed his hand, pulling him over to the lantern light. His hands were bright red from the exercise, and there was a thin cut below his index finger.

“Come on, we’re going to the well. We need to wash this.”

Armin tried to argue, but Connie fixed him with a stare until his arguments slowly dissolved into an unintelligible murmur. Connie grabbed Armin’s arm, and draped it over his shoulder, half-carrying him across the field to the well.

Connie lowered Armin to the grass, and quickly began hauling at the rope, pulling up the bucket. As he pulled, he shot another look at Armin, whose breath was beginning to return; although his face was still shining with sweat in the moonlight.

With a final grunt, the bucket appeared, suspended above the nape of the well. Connie grabbed it, careful not to slosh it, and withdrew a small beaker from his pocket. He scooped out a brimful, and beckoned for Armin’s hand. After a moment, Armin complied, letting Connie pour the water over the cut.

Connie did this several times; making sure the entire cut was completely flushed with water before he was satisfied. “It doesn’t look too deep. In the morning you should get some rubbing alcohol on it.”

“M’kay,” Armin muttered.

Connie scooped another beaker of water, and pushed it towards Armin. “You haven’t answered why you’re up this late.”

Armin seized the beaker, and drank greedily, the field silent save for his muffled gulps. At last he lowered the beaker, and stared at the ground. “I’m…I’m still too weak.”

At this, Connie lowered himself to a sitting position next to Armin. He could hear the tension in Armin’s voice. “What do you mean? You made it through training, you survived the-“

“I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING,” Armin suddenly shouted, his face contorted into the familiar face of pure despair that Connie remembered seeing. The beaker fell to the ground, scattering water everywhere.

Armin clutched his face, tears falling to join the spilled water on the soft grass. “I froze up, I watched Thomas, and Mina, and everyone devoured; I saw Eren hurt, and I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t help, and-“

Armin’s voice trailed off into the darkness, replaced by heavy sobs. His entire body convulsed as he groaned with pain.

Without thinking, Connie reached out, and pulled Armin into his chest, squeezing the blonde tightly in his arms. “It’s ok, it’s ok,” he murmured, “let it out, it’s going to be alright…”

For a while, there was no sound but Armin’s sobs into Connie’s shirt. Connie could feel his leg going to sleep from the odd angle he was positioned at, but he refused to move, gently running a hand through Armin’s hair.

After a while, Armin was finally quiet, but still shaking in Connie’s arms. “You’re not weak, Armin.”

Armin looked up, his blue eyes still swimming with tears. “But I-“

Connie cut him off roughly. “You may not be the best fighter, but it was your plan that helped us to secure the headquarters building. And it was your plan that allowed us to retake Trost.”

“I’m a coward.”

At this, Connie pushed Armin away from him, anger now gleaming in his eyes. “We’re _all_ cowards Armin. And we’ve _all_ messed up. Mikasa almost died when she squandered her gas! Rico almost called off the entire mission! Sasha and I didn’t kill our Titans inside headquarters. You think that I’ve just forgotten about that? Because the moment I realized I had failed, I wasn’t scared for my life, I was afraid of getting you all killed because of my mistake!”

Armin was staring at Connie, his eyes wide. “No! I didn’t mean-“

“I was with the group that saw the Colossal Titan first! If I had moved faster, we could’ve maybe killed it before it broke the walls! But I hesitated! I was scared! Don’t think that you’re the only one who feels weak! At least everyone knows that you’re smart, everyone just thinks I’m stupid!”

Connie faltered, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He looked away, ashamed at his outburst.

A hand hesitantly rested on Connie’s shoulder. “I don’t think you’re stupid. And no one else thinks that either.”

“Yeah right,” Connie muttered bluntly.

“Connie you…you cartwheeled into a Titan’s face to let Jean escape. You knew that something crazy had to be done to get its attention, so you instinctively did exactly what was necessary to save him! Connie no one else would’ve thought to do that in that situation!”

“That was dumb luck that I didn’t die right then and there. And you know it.”

The hand tightened on his shoulder. “You saved _me,_ Connie. Against insurmountable odds, barely any gas, and no backup, you didn’t even hesitate. You carried me through that entire city, while keeping up with _Mikasa!_ I’ve heard the other squads talking about it, half of them are convinced it’s just a story!”

Connie slowly looked up, his heart in his chest. Armin was looking at him, a funny look in his eye. No one had ever defended him like this before. He had always been the butt of the joke; at home, in the barracks, everywhere. And here, this intelligent bright boy was defending him. Connie was thankful of the dark, so Armin couldn’t see the red creeping into his cheeks. “I-I never would’ve abandoned you. You’re too important…to me.”

Before he could say anything else, Armin had  leaned forward, and lightly kissed Connie on the lips. It was just a slight brush, but Connie was struck dumb, forced to just sit there, gawking at Armin, who looked away.

“I’m sorry,  I just…wanted you to know how much you mean to me. That was-“

Without another word, Connie grabbed the back of Armin’s neck, pushing their lips together again. And for a moment, in the darkness of the night, two boys forgot about the hell they lived in.


	2. The Night Before

After that night, Connie and Armin began to develop a habit. Every morning, an hour before the rest of the soldiers were supposed to be up, the two of them would sneak out to the practice field, where Connie would give Armin pointers about maneuvering with the gear, and recommended certain exercises to increase his speed and strength. His natural instincts and reflexes allowed him to point out specific things that Armin could do to accelerate and decelerate at the drop of a hat. Armin would always end practice covered in scratches and bruises, but a grin would always be plastered his face.

In turn, after the other cadets had gone to bed, Armin would set out books of theory and strategy, and teach Connie about the inner workings of the Scouting Corps, from signals to contingency plans. It was slow working, But Armin was a natural teacher; able to deconstruct complex illustrations into problems that Connie could visualize and understand, working his way up piece by piece until he understood the concept. After a while, they began to realize that they perfectly complemented each other’s weaknesses.

Armin’s foresight could curb Connie’s desire to leap into dangerous situations without a second thought, while Connie’s natural instincts helped Armin to be able to improvise when plans and contingencies failed. After a few weeks of this, more of the 104th began to show up, either in the mornings or evenings.

Reiner would show up in the mornings, occasionally dragging Bertholdt along with him, always excited to learn anything that could help him add speed and mobility to his massive frame. He would often add pointers of his own, and began to refer to Connie and Armin as the “dynamic duo,” which always made the two of them puff out their chests with pride.

Sasha, Christa, and Jean would regularly attend morning and evening practices. Sasha tended to struggle more with the strategic side of things, while Christa put forth more effort into the physical side. Jean merely took it as another challenge, and always did his best to beat everyone, whether in terms of speed, agility, or intelligence.

Annie and Ymir made brief appearances, but only to stay near the back, never really participating, but absorbing everything that was said. Ymir really only came to spy on Christa anyway, but once or twice she would join when Christa invited her.

Eren and Mikasa didn’t make it that often, as Eren had to constantly practice his Titan-shifting, and Mikasa stayed near wherever he was. Occasionally though, he’d get the night off, and would come by just to watch Armin or Connie teaching the group.

Progress was slow at times, but Connie and Armin never deviated from their practices. And as time went on, they began to see the fruits of their labor. During group practices, the two of them were becoming progressively faster at completing tasks and exercises, outperforming the other soldiers with their teamwork. On one notable encounter, Connie had used his momentum to push Armin past Mikasa, who then perfectly struck the first blow on one of the Titan dummies. Mikasa spent the rest of the day glaring at the two of them.

 Jokes about Connie’s intelligence or Armin’s fighting ability began to trickle off, save for Ymir who still found them uproarious.  But everyone silently acknowledged that the two of them were working harder than everyone. They were up before everyone else, were constantly worked to the bone during regular practice, and then constantly researching until one of them would concede, and fall asleep at the table. Then, the other would carry them to their bed, and the day would officially end.

Nothing was ever sad about the kiss that night. Neither one brought it up, as if by silent agreement.

During breaks and lull periods during day practice, Armin began to ask Connie about his village. Connie was more than happy to talk about his home, surprised that Armin was that interested in things like milking cows and pitching hay. In turn, Armin would share knowledge about the world beyond the walls with Connie; explaining the concept of a body of water that was salty.

As the day of the 57th expedition drew near, Connie began to grow more agitated, staying up far later than Armin, making a habit of carrying Armin to bed, and then resuming his work. At first, Armin didn’t think anything of it, merely impressed at his friend’s drive. Finally, it caught up to him, when Armin got up to get ready for their morning workout.

He squinted in the dark, and realized that Connie’s bed was empty. Armin began to make his way down the hall. The sky was barely visible, as the sun hadn’t risen yet, when he found Connie; he was passed out in his chair, head down in a sea of books and illegible notes. He was fidgeting in his sleep, making small noises, and slightly twisting his arms. Armin stared at his friend for a moment, before gently prodding him. _“Connie.”_

There was no change. Armin poked him again, a bit harder this time. With a jolt, Connie came to, and fell backward in his chair, his arms raised to protect his face. Armin rushed forward, trying to save him from falling over backwards. “Connie it’s just me! You fell asleep at the table!”

Connie pushed back at him frantically, still caught in the delirium of sleep. Armin paused, and then stepped back, to wait for him to calm down. Slowly, Connie continued to wake up, and lowered his hands. With a twinge, Armin saw Connie’s eyes growing wet. “Connie, it was just a nightmare, it was just-“

“Everyone was dead, Armin.” Connie’s voice was soft, but Armin could hear the terror in the whisper. The words froze the air between the two boys in the darkness of the room. Connie continued to babble hysterically. “They were all dead, and I couldn’t do anything, and they were coming for me, and I couldn’t run and-I-I don’t want to go on the expedition, I don’t-I don’t-I don’t-“

Connie was waving his hands erratically, when Armin reached out and grabbed one of his hands, looking intently into his eyes as he gave the trembling a hand a gentle squeeze. “Connie, it was…just a dream. I’m here, the group’s here, no one’s dead.”

Armin knew the dream. He had it every other night. Mangled corpses, grinning Titans, breached walls, and everything else that he knew and loved reduced to rubble and flesh. Connie made a small whimpering sound. “I don’t want to die Armin, I don’t want it to be over.”

Armin’s grip on Connie’s hand tightened. “It’s not over Connie. We’re not going to die. We’ve trained. We’ve gone the extra mile, we _can_ do this. Do you trust me?”

“But I-“

“Connie. Do you trust me?”

Connie stared back at Armin for a split second before looking away and slowly nodding his head. At this, Armin reached out and wrapped his arms around Connie, tightly hugging the other boy. After a moment, Connie relented, and let himself lean on Armin’s shoulder, as the two of them sat there in the dark study.

After a while, Armin let go, and reached up to brush a residual tear from Connie’s cheek. “We’re going to be all right. We beat freakin’ Mikasa the other day. As long as we remember what we’ve been working on, we will get through it. Ok?”

 Connie mumbled something inaudible, but then managed a weak grin. “Guess the tables have turned, huh?”

Armin chuckled softly, reaching up to rub Connie’s head. “It’s a grim day when Armin Arlert has to be the comforting one.”

At this Connie laughed, and draped an arm around Armin, pulling him close. “Nah, you’ve always been the comforting one to us.”


End file.
